A/N: Hi everyone, I'm sorry for the slight lateness of this update, it's just been one of those days.

I'm so grateful for the kudos and sweet comments; they mean a lot to me!

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy Chapter 3!😊💖🦋

 "Give me your hand and I'll hold it. People, help the people. Nothing will drag you down." -Birdy (from her song, "People Help the People")

Alice's POV

Strolling into homeroom, I wasn't surprised to find it mostly empty, aside from some of my classmates sitting on desks or huddled together talking about the latest gossip. I didn't pay them much mind as I walked to the back of the room, seeing a familiar girl bent over a sketchbook, her foot tapping to the beat of something she was humming.

I smiled, recognizing the melody of one of my favorites, "Killer Queen", as I approached her desk. "Hi, is this seat taken?"

Her heart stuttered in its rhythmic beats as she met my gaze, a mix of shock and confusion painting her features, accented by her furrowed brows and bright blue eyes. Before I could second-guess my approach, her expression relaxed and she smiled softly as she replied, "No, it's not; it's yours if you want it. I'm pretty sure I scared away the last guy who sat next to me."

I nodded with a grin and sat down, turning back to face her, and crossing my fingers under the desk.

I had a good feeling about her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kenzie's POV

"Bye, Em," I replied, smirking with satisfaction at his shocked expression as I left the room, heading to the cafeteria. Angela and I had a lot to catch up on.

After grabbing my lunch, I sat next to Angela at our table. "Hey, Ange, how's it going?" I asked.

"Pretty good, though I'm still stumped on what to write about," she replied, resting her chin in her hand in thought.

"Well, we're in spooky season territory now, so that should give us some inspiration," I remarked, cracking open my bottle of lemonade and taking a sip.

"True, and maybe we could even add a certain someone's special day to the holiday list," she added.

"No, Angela, that doesn't count as a holiday," I retorted, shaking my head fondly at her.

"Whatever you say, Ellie," she amended, shrugging her shoulders innocently.

"Ooh, if you guys need help with headlines, I heard there's going to be a Halloween movie showcase at the movies," Jessica offered.

"Oh yeah, the one in Port Angeles, right?" Eric asked, getting a nod from Jess in reply.

"See, Angel, we've got one headline now, and the rest should be a piece of cake," I grinned, nudging her shoulder.

We finished our lunch pretty soon after that and killed time until the bell watching the boys' usual antics and writing down the movies from the showcase as Jess listed them off.

The bell rang, announcing the end of our lunch period, and satisfied with our progress on the paper, we parted ways once more for class.

Since Art was upstairs, I headed to the nearest stairwell and started climbing up, just reaching the top when two boys sprinted past me, making me lose my balance and fall backward. Fortunately, a girl who must've heard the commotion reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back from the edge of the landing.

I steadied myself against the banister, trying to catch my breath while my heartbeat hammered in my ears. A gentle hand settled on my shoulder, and when I looked up, I saw the girl still standing there, concern etched all over her gorgeous porcelain features as she voiced her worries, "Are you alright?"

I shakily nodded in response, readjusting the straps of my bag on my shoulders. Clearing my throat, I managed, "Y-yeah, I'll be okay."

"Do you want to go to the nurse's office, just in case? Or, if not, I could walk you to class," she offered.

Still feeling the adrenaline rushing through me, I nodded, smiling softly as I replied, "If you could walk me to class, that would be good. As long as it isn't too much trouble."

Sending me a reassuring smile in return she shook her head, "Not at all, what's your next class?"

"Art, Room 214," I said, and she nodded, walking beside me down the hallway, stopping at the door.

"If you need anything else, my sister is in this class too," she said.

"Alice, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's her. You're Kenzie, aren't you?"

Slightly surprised, I nodded in response, and sensing my confusion, she added, "I'm Rosalie, Alice's sister. She was talking about you non-stop at lunch."

The bell blared out its warning chime, and with a sigh, she finished, "It was nice meeting you, Kenzie. I'll see you around."

"It was nice to meet you too," I replied, still in slight shock from the stair incident. With that, she smiled in my direction before walking back the way we came.

I went in the classroom, releasing a deep breath as my nerves finally settled down. Almost instantly, Alice spotted me and beckoned me over to the empty seat next to hers, eyes and smile as bright as ever, like she was seeing an old friend. Had I really made that good of an impression already?

Gladly taking the offered seat, I turned to her, silently thanking the universe that we shared this class. "Ellie, it's good to see you!" she beamed.

"Ally, you read my mind," I replied with a laugh, loving her seemingly endless energy.

Unlike in homeroom, the class was full, and although I was aware of the looks and whispers of our classmates, they might as well have fallen on deaf ears, as I tuned them out. I recounted how I met Em and Rosalie to Ally while she listened intently, giggling at the irony of how me and Emmett met and double-checking that I was okay after I told her about the near-accident on the stairs.

Our attention was brought to the front of the room as Ms. Claire announced that today was a free-draw day. In other words, we could draw anything, within reason, that we wanted. Alice and I took out our sketchbooks, art supplies, and got to work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

About a half hour later, I set down one of my gel pens, satisfied with my new piece. Looking at my work when I turned the book her way, Alice smiled softly, "It's beautiful, you drew them perfectly."

"Thank you, they've always been two of my favorite characters," I remarked, looking over my drawing of Jack Skellington and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, one of me and Dad's favorite holiday movies. "Is it okay if I see what you drew?" I asked, not wanting to cross any lines.

"Of course," she smiled, handing me her sketchbook, and I smiled in return as I marveled at the details. It was a gorgeous rendering of a night sky, studded with stars and constellations, with a column of stars brighter than the others in the middle, almost aligned, but not quite.

"Wow," I breathed out, gently handing it back to her. "You're really talented."

"Thanks, so are you," she said as she closed her sketchbook and set it back in her bag.

"Amazing work everyone! Class dismissed," Ms. Claire smiled.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With the extra time before my next class, I found myself in the library browsing the shelves, choosing an old favorite, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and settling into a chair.

It had been a whirlwind kind of day and books felt like a nice reprieve from it, so I pushed everything else aside and immersed myself in the story, stepping into the silver shoes of Dorothy Gale for a little while.

A/N: Ta-da! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it!💜 Please feel free to leave your thoughts, I love reading your comments! Friendly reminder, please keep them respectful!

🩷QOTD: What do you think Alice said about Kenzie to her siblings?

🎶Featured Music: "People Help the People" by Birdy

Have a great rest of your day/night, and stay tuned for chapter updates! See you in the next one!😊💖💜💖🦋